The Fastest way to set up an Account With Suppliers
Have a generic credit application on hand. We even made a sample one you can use as a reference below. This is a document to provide basic info to a supplier about your lab that includes
- Lab shipping and billing addresses,
- bank info and contact
- FEIN and D&B number
- date founded and where it was incorporated
- Contact email addresses for purchasing and invoicing
Credit applications generally also include trade/credit references. These are suppliers who can say your lab reliably pays its bills on time.
This document can also allow you to get credit terms with a supplier. Rather than pre-paying for everything with a credit card, the supplier will invoice the lab and they will have 30 days to pay that invoice by bank transfer or other means.
Suppliers Vary in Account Setup
Suppliers vary widely in their requirements to set up an account and extend Net 30 credit terms. The simplest is registering online and ordering (Amazon). Some suppliers require more work to set up account, but extend terms immediately (Thermofisher). Some are draconian, requiring the most stringent requirements like multiple bank accounts to check as well as full financials of the lab (BD Biosciences).
Some account set up requirements are negotiable, some aren’t. No matter what though, a generic credit app will save your lab time in getting set up to order with suppliers.
Glossary of useful terms
FEIN - Federal employer identification number (like social security number for a business)
D&B number (DUNS number) - The D-U-N-S Number is a unique nine-digit identifier for businesses. It is used to establish a business credit file.
Credit application - vendor application to get Net30 terms extended
Credit terms - the company has extended a line of credit to you for making Net 30 purchases. There is a spending limit.
Example Generic Credit Application
